For example, Khemsurov's piece "Sissel Tolaas, Scent Expert," visits Tolaas in her Berlin studio, where she develops complex scents for museums, big brands, and her own artwork. An excerpt:
Though on any given day she might be busy developing an ambient odor for a Margiela exhibition or identifying a prototypical Swedish smell for Ikea, the larger aim of her career, she says, is remediating "the lack of understanding smell has in our society." The first step is getting people to pay attention, even if it means using unseemly tactics like mixing up a kind of "filth soup" cologne and wearing it to a film festival, or simulating the body odors extracted from men having panic attacks and exhibiting them on scratch-and-sniff walls at MIT. "I have what scientists don't have--the guts to go out there and try my ideas out in reality," the 49-year-old says.

Lisa is dedicated to promoting the American contemporary design scene. She keeps herself busy as the co-founder of the Object Design League, an association of independent designers in Chicago, and design practice Smith&Linder, both co-founded with Caroline Linder. She also teaches foundation research studios at the...